“The town of Beebe, Arkansas suffered an eerie occurrence on New Year’s Eve last weekend: over 5,000 lifeless bird tragically fell from the sky. Impossibly, things appear to have gotten stranger in rural Arkansas as reports have surfaced of over 100,000 drum fish suddenly dying off roughly 100 miles west of the massive bird die-off. As was reported earlier, an AP interview with an expert affiliated with the state’s Livestock and Poultry Commission suggested that the birds may have died as a result of “lightning or high- altitude hail.” Another possibility for the bird die-off? New Year’s Eve fireworks may have startled the birds so severely, that they died from stress. But neither of these reasons would account for the massive fish die-of” – CNN.

“The crisis in Darfur, in western Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction and forced displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have died as a result of both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and more than 2 million civilians have been forced to flee from their homes. The situation on the ground has been plagued with renewed violence, Janjawid attacks, and aerial bombing by the Government of Sudan’s military. Currently, the Government of Sudan is resisting the UN Security Council-mandated peacekeeping operation that is desperately needed.

Amnesty representatives have met with UN, U.S. and European officials to call for their vigorous action and have pressed the governments of Chad and Sudan directly. Amnesty’s global membership has also organized letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations to draw attention to the crisis.
The international community must, at long last, put a stop to these atrocities and bring relief to those who have survived but continue to suffer. Join the growing movement of citizens worldwide who are taking action for Darfur.”

“In January 2011, Sudan is scheduled to decide whether or not to divide itself in two. Preparations are woefully behind, and civilians are at real risk of escalating violence and a potential return to war. In Darfur, nearly three million civilians are living in camps and facing violence, rape and critical shortages of water and medical aid. The country’s president remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

It was a typical school board meeting, with members discussing typical school issues.And then, all of a sudden, it was anything but.”Were at a board meeting, and were talking about technology and head lice, and next thing we know, this guys got a gun in our face,” Bill Husfelt, superintendent of Bay District Schools in Panama City, Florida, said Wednesday.Clay Duke, 56, sat quietly through the meeting until it was time for citizens to bring up issues. Then he approached the front of the room, spray-painted a red “V” with a circle around it on the wall and brandished a handgun. He ordered the room cleared of everyone but six men.Duke ended up firing shots but didnt hit anyone. Wounded by a security officer, Duke fell to the ground, where he turned the gun on himself. He was pronounced dead at a hospital of a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. An autopsy was expected Wednesday.

Here is an inspiring song and performance of “Stand by me”. If you are looking for an escape from the usual forced and media generated pop watch below-Enjoy 🙂

From the award-winning documentary, “Playing For Change: Peace Through Music”, comes the first of many “songs around the world” being released independently. Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it travelled the globe.

On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing this video (after allegedly speaking to an unfaithful journalist). The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr. Manning a ‘hero’. He is currently imprisoned in Kuwait. The Apache crew and those behind the cover up depicted in the video have yet to be charged. To assist Private Manning, please see bradleymanning.org.

5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff.

Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.